Creatures
Devil Dog: Appearance: Evil-looking doberman, with black fur and sharp teeth. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: No Devil Dogs are some of the first enemies you'll encounter. They're arguably the weakest enemy type, but can still give you trouble early on in the game. Their relatively small size and black fur makes them tough to spot in the darkness of the castle until they're right on top of you. They're also reasonably quick and hit for decent damage. They also seem to do more damage if you run away from them instead of attacking them. Fortunately, they can't survive much punishment, and can easily be dispatched either by rapid fist blows or a few whacks with the cane sword. You really shouldn't waste your ammo on Devil Dogs. Instead, save it for more difficult foes. Annoying, Devil Dogs are unaffected by the crucifix, so if they catch you by surprise you can't drive them away while switching to another weapon. It's possible to dodge their intial leaping bite, though, and this should give you time to back away and switch to a melee weapon to kill them. *'Gypsy with Scythe': Appearance: Hunched peasant with white shirt, wide-brimmed hat, leathery skin, and large scythe. Speed: Average Repelled By Crucifix: No These human henchmen of the Count are some of the easiest enemies in the game. Their scythe attacks are extremely damaging, but also fairly slow and very easy to avoid. They've got a decent running speed, but they're not agile and can't dodge around or leap at you from several feet away like many undead enemies can. It also takes them slightly longer to recover from a hit than an undead enemy would. This means you can run up to them and pummel them with your fists or your cane sword, and it becomes impossible for them to hit back because they're being stunned by your constant attacks. Because of their easiness, Gypsy henchmen are somewhat uncommon, and you're much more likely to encounter Ghouls, Desmodiij, or Devil Dogs as random enemies. Gypsy henchmen are unaffected by holy weapons such as the crucifix or chalice, but that hardly matters since it's so easy to pummel them the old fashioned way. The only danger these guys pose is if you face them grouped together with other enemies, as they can blitz you from the side and kill you with 1 or 2 hits while you're busy fighting the other guys. For this reason, you should always target them first when fighting them in a group. *'Gypsy with Flintlock pistol': Appearance: Hunched peasant with white shirt, wide-brimmed hat, leathery skin, and flintlock pistol. Speed: Average Repelled By Crucifix: No Some of the count's henchmen are armed with antique firearms. These guys are fairly uncommon, but you will bump into them occasionally throughout the castle. Just like you, they'll need to spend a couple seconds reloading their weapon after every shot. They also have below average accuracy, although they can still hit you. Their attack is also pretty damaging if it manages to hit you. Not particularly mobile, these guys mostly stand in one place and shoot at you (although they can occasionally follow you if you run into another room). Melee attacks won't always stun them, and since they do a decent bit of damage you really should finish them off quickly with your own flintlock pistol. Your best strategy is to duck behind cover when you first spot them, wait for them to take a shot, then come back out and pop em' while they're still reloading. They drop their flintlock pistol as well as some flintlock ammo when killed, which can be useful. *'Gypsy Musketeer': Appearance: Hunched peasant wearing brown leather vest, with leathery skin and musket rifle. Speed: Average Repelled By Crucifix: No These particularly nasty Gypsy henchmen are armed with muskets. Extremely rare, I've only ever found a total of 4 of these guys throughout the entire game. You'll find them acting as the personal bodyguards of the East Wing bosses. 3 of them guard the East Tower stairway that leads to the fight with Desmodaui, and 1 of them will snipe at you during the fight with Succubus Moraie. They don't move around at all, just lying in one place and sniping at you. Their muskets do LOTS of damage and are more accurate than flintlocks, but they still have the same low rate of fire. These henchmen also still have below average accuracy, and will tend to miss more than 50% of the time (although they'll certainly hit you if you get too close). Dispatch them with your flintlock or pistol, then be sure to grab the musket they drop. *'Desmodiij': Appearance: Thin humanoid with blackened skin, white eyes, and bat- like features. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: Yes These guys are probably the most common enemy type in the game, and you'll encounter many of them in all 3 main areas of the castle. They randomly appear when you enter a room, can smash their way in through the windows or floorboards, and spawn from summoning portals that are randomly located throughout the castle. Desmodiij are fast: they run real quick, can lunge at you from several feet away, and can even leap around the room to try and avoid your shots. Their attacks also do decent damage, and they can survive a good amount of hits. Still, they're easy enough to dispatch as long as they don't catch you by surprise. Either blast them with your flintlock just before they get within striking distance, or run up to them and quickly pummel them with your fists or cane sword. Your fists stun them almost perfectly, but they are fast enough to get a couple strikes in between your cane sword hits, so try to hit them at the maximum range of the cane sword if you attack them with that weapon. Desmodiij are repelled by the crucifix, so if you carry that as your default weapon you can stun them briefly as soon as they appear, giving you time to switch to another weapon to finish them. Because of their speed, multiple Desmodiij can overwhelm and kill you quickly, so if you find yourself surrounded (such as when you enter a portal room) it's best to kill them all off with a spray from the chalice. *'Ghoul': Appearance: Burly, hairless, muscular humanoid. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: Yes Ghouls are probably the toughest of the enemies you initially encounter. Ghouls appear in all 3 main areas of the castle, and they're fairly common as well. Similar to Desmodiij, Ghouls are fast and vicious, able to run and leap at you very quickly and striking at you with powerful slashing attacks. They're also tougher than Desmodiij, and can survive more damage (although a single flintlock shot will still bring them down). Ghouls are fast enough to get in a couple lucky shots if you try to kill them with the cane sword, but you can still punch them to death without getting hit. Ghouls also spawn in most of the same ways as the Desmodiij. Besides appearing in a room as soon as you enter it, Ghouls can also suddenly appear inside an empty room by diving in through windows or smashing through the floor or ceiling. In fact, Ghouls and Desmodiij are usually interchangable in terms of spawning, and whether you encounter one or the other in a particular area is determined by random chance (the only difference is Ghouls don't spawn from summoning portals). On Nightmare difficulty, Ghouls require 2 flintlock shots to kill, making the flintlock less useful against them since it is no longer an instant-kill weapon. You can still punch them to death relatively easily, however. *'Zombie': Appearance: Hunched, hooded man with green skin and green robes. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: Yes The first time you encounter these guys will probably be when you enter the East Wing Crypt, which is crawling with them. They also begin appearing randomly inside the West Wing and Main Castle, which means you'll be encountering them with reasonable frequency during the last 2/3 of the game. Zombies often appear by pulling themselves out of the floor, allowing them to silently appear anywhere at any time (frequently behind your back). They can't survive much damage (2 revolver shots or a single stake will kill them), but they're pretty fast and can leap across a room like a Ghoul or Desmodiij can. Zombies apparently have a longer reach than Ghouls or Desmodiij, and they can still strike you even if you're several feet away and outside the range of their fists. This makes melee combat with them a bit more problematic, but you can still pummel them with your fists or cane sword without getting hit if you're fast enough. Using the flintlock on them is a bit of overkill. Since it only takes 2 revolver shots to kill a zombie, you're best off of using the revolver against them to save on flintlock ammo. The fact that you can kill 2 zombies without needing to reload the revolver is certainly convenient. *'Decayed Zombie': Appearance: Shriveled, skeletal, mummified corpse. Speed: Slow Repelled By Crucifix:No In various parts of the castle, you may see shriveled, grey, mummified bodies lying on the ground. Take note of them, because there's a good chance that when you return to that room (perhaps after rescuing a relative) these corpses will suddenly get up and start attacking you. Decayed Zombies are pretty slow (moving with the standard movie zombie shambling shuffle), but they can catch you by surprise, especially if you ignored them as harmless (if one is moving towards you from the front, be sure to look back to make sure none have reanimated behind you). One or two hits are sufficient to knock a Decayed Zombie to the ground, but don't be fooled into thinking they're defeated. After a few seconds they get back up again, and you'll just have to knock them back down. Decayed Zombies will die for real after they've taken enough damage. A single shot from the flintlock pistol will kill them instantly, otherwise you'll just have to smack them down until they stop getting back up. Decayed Zombies are pretty slow, but they've got a pretty long reach with their arms, so be sure to sprint in and out with each attack if you're going to melee them. Also be careful that they don't end up surrounding you. They're fairly uncommon in the East and West Wings, although you'll find quite a few of them lying inside the Main Castle's various rooms. *'Shadow Vampire': Appearance: Floating cloud of shadows. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: Yes These floating shadows are VERY common throughout all three parts of the castle, and you'll find yourself facing them quite often. Because they are made of nothing but shadows, they can be difficult to spot in the dark. You'll just have to get accustomed to the tell-tale wraith-like sound they make when they attack. The most noticeable thing about Shadow Vampires is that they are immune to all physical attacks, which will simply pass through them harmlessly. They are vulnerable only to holy relics and thus only two weapons can damage them, the Crucifix and the Ancient Chalice. On the plus side, they're extremely weak, and a single hit from either the Crucifix or the Chalice will kill them. You'll know you've successfully hit them when they emit an electrical sound and blue sparks. On their own, Shadow Vampires shouldn't be too tough, since you can easily dispatch them by flooding a room with crucifix blasts. When they attack together with other enemies, however, they can be rather annoying since you'll have to switch to the Crucifix to destroy them, then switch back to a physical weapon to defeat the remaining enemies. Shadow Vampires can actually move pretty fast, so if one jumps you when you open the door to the next room, you'll have to RUN backwards to avoid getting hit. They recoil from the crucifix, though, so holding it out can help stop their advancing. *'Lesser Vampire': Appearance: Bald, chalk-skinned man in skin-tight black leather suit. Looks like a cross between Nosferatu and Pinhead. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: Yes The classic vampire. Surprisingly, they're relatively rare throughout the game. Unlike other enemies, Vampires don't spawn randomly. Instead, they start out resting inside their wood coffins. When you enter the same room as them, they will emerge from their coffins after several seconds, and begin attacking you. They're fast and can survive lots of damage, but every couple of hits will knock them down onto the ground for a few seconds. You can tell if a vampire is dead or merely stunned by the way their body is positioned. Vampires have two big weaknesses: 1) You can stab them with a wooden stake when they're still in their coffin for an instant kill. 2) They take damage from the crucifix blast, which also knocks them to the ground. The crucifix is an excellent weapon against vampires: not only does it damage them, but they will also cower away from it when it is brandished, keeping them from attacking you. Because of their high health, it's generally a bad idea to fight them with any weapons other than the crucifix. Vampires are more cautious fighters than most enemies. Instead of blindly charging at you, they like to hang back a couple feet away from you, move in to strike, than back away again to assess the situation. This can actually work in your favor, as it allows you to rush in, strike them, then dodge back to avoid their counterattack. They actually aren't that tough if you're prepared. If you must fight one, just keep knocking him down with your crucifix until he stops getting back up. You can make sure a vampire is dead by walking over his corpse. If you walk through the body, he's dead, but if you push the body along the floor when you move against it, he's still alive. You can avoid a fight with a vampire entirely by simply staking them in their coffin before they rise up and attack you. *'Lesser Vampiress': Appearance: Young, vampirized peasant woman wearing tan hide corset and leggings Speed: Very Fast Repelled By Crucifix: No Lesser Vampiresses are similar to Lesser Vampires. You'll always encounter them intially lying inside a wooden coffin, and it takes several seconds for them to awaken and begin attacking you. Every couple of hits will knock them down, but they'll keep getting back up until you do enough damage to kill them. Despite the similarities, vampiress behavior is significantly different from that of the male vampires. Vampiresses are incredibly fast and aggressive, much more so than their Lesser Vampire counterparts. While a Lesser Vampire usually hangs back a little and fights cautiously, a Lesser Vampiress will pounce at you with reckless abandon and rapidly slash you with her claws. This makes them much more annoying enemies than Lesser Vampires, but fortunately they can survive less damage and die more quickly. For some reason, Vampiresses also do not fear the crucifix or garlic, although they are still damaged by the holy blast from the crucifix. Like the Lesser Vampire, the best way to dispatch a Lesser Vampiress is to stake her in her coffin before she can rise and attack. Failing that, keep knocking her down with the crucifix until she no longer gets back up. Try to avoid letting her get too close, because it can be tough to get her off you. Lesser Vampiresses have the fastest ground speed of any monster in the game, and they can run faster than you can, so trying to run away from them doesn't do you much good. On Nightmare difficulty, Vampiresses are no longer knocked down by the Crucifix, which makes them significantly more dangerous, and makes staking them in their coffins before they rise much more important. *'Feral Zombie': Appearance: Rotting corpse with reddish skin, wearing black clothes, usually hunched on all fours. Speed: Above Average Repelled By Crucifix: Yes These guys are one of the game's tougher enemies, and begin to show up once you enter the West Wing. The Feral Zombie is fast, but not in the quick-sprinter way the Desmodiij or Ghouls are fast. Instead, the Feral Zombie is acrobatic, leaping and cartwheeling around to avoid your shots. They can also leap and slash at you from several feet away. Unlike most enemies, the Feral Zombie isn't constantly charging at you. Instead, they like to spend much of their time crouching on hands and legs, waiting for an opportunity to pounce on you. Feral Zombies often lay crouched on the floor for a couple seconds observing you before attacking. When they do attack, they charge at you on all fours like an animal would. Every couple of hits will knock a Feral Zombie down for a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, this means you can't pin them with melee attacks. Additionally, they're pretty good at slashing you when you try to approach them, so getting close to them isn't a good idea anyway. Just kill them with your firearms. Feral Zombies don't make any sort of distinctive noise, and their black clothes and low profile crouching on the ground can let them sneak up on your without you noticing. Keep your eyes peeled. *'Demon': Appearance: Pitch black, gargoyle-like creature, with red eyes and large black bat wings. Speed: Fast Repelled By Crucifix: No The Demon is probably the nastiest enemy in the game, especially when you're inside the Main Castle, which is crawling with them. These creatures can survive the most damage out of all the game's non-boss enemies, and require 3 flintlock shots or 2 musket shots to destroy. They're also very fast, have speedy attacks, and their pitch- black skin and low profile allows them to blend into the darkness and makes them difficult to spot until they're almost on top of you. Their individual hits don't do that much damage, but they strike very rapidly and can hit you several times in a few seconds. Their rapid rate of attack even allows them to get hits in on your even if you pummel them rapidly with your fists. Plus, they ignore the crucifix and garlic, so there's no way to keep them at bay. Extremely annoying, there's not much you can do against them. The best weapon to beat them with is the machine gun, since the rapid hits can stun them and keep them away from you. Since they can survive so many machine gun hits, you can use long bursts to kill them more quickly, but don't over-do it or else you'll run out of ammo. If you don't have the machine gun, your next best option is to shoot them with a flintlock or musket, then rapidly switch to another flintlock or musket to shoot them against instead of wasting time reloading your empty one. *'Vampire Bat': Appearance: A bat. Speed: Very Fast Repelled By Crucifix: No Bats. Mammals of the order Chiroptera. Winged mice. These guys appear twice in the game, during the two East Wing boss fights. They'll basically fly around the battle, and occasionally swoop in and bite you while you're busy fighting the boss. A hit from an individual bat doesn't do much damage, but bats travel in swarms and several of them can hit you at the same time, adding up to lots of damage. Additionally, a hit from a bat has a chance of knocking away your weapon, which can be a bother when you're otherwise occupied fighting a boss. A single hit from any weapon will kill a bat, but they're small and fast and very difficult to hit. You're best off ignoring them, keep moving to avoid their attacks, and try to kill the boss as quickly as possible so you won't have to deal with them anymore. Resources game FAQ by Jaylock(Alan Chan)